Waikato Uni lake makeover

Silt from Waikato University lakes will create a wetland area on the city campus with a clean-up of one of its lakes.

The university's lakes are a central point on the campus and enjoyed by students, staff, visitors and the university's neighbours.

The shallow lakes have silted up during the past 40 years and the university's sustainability co-ordinator Rachael Goddard and freshwater scientist Professor David Hamilton are leading the project to remove silt from Oranga Lake (the main lake by the shops) and use it to create a wetland area by the university fields.

"The university is renowned for our beautiful campus and the lakes are an integral part of that," says Ms Goddard.

"The community surrounding the university enjoys them as much as our visitors and students and it is important we maintain and look after them."

She says Oranga Lake has slowly silted up and requires sediment removal and additional planting.

"On top of making the campus more attractive, this gives us the opportunity to create a small wetland area which will increase biodiversity on campus, and can be used as an educational tool," Ms Goddard says.

The work runs until February 5. Neighbours were alerted to the work which may involve some odours and pump noise.